Fastening for bureau drawers



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEO. WODE, OF ELIZABETHPORT, NEW JERSEY.

FASTENING FOR BUREAU DRAWERS.

Speccation of Letters Patent No. 7,541, dated July 30, 1850.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE WoDE, of Elizabethport, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in the Construction of the Drawers of Bureaus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, makng a part of this specification, in which- Figure I is a view in perspective. Figs. II, III, and IV are sections in detail and like letters refer to like parts in all the gures.

The nature of my invention consists in so constructing the drawers of a bureau or other piece of cabinet furniture that when all are closed but the topmost one, the shutting of that will cause all the others to be locked in that closed position, so that no one of them can be opened until the topmost one is partially withdrawn. I secure econolny of material and labor in construction. I diminish the size, as I obtain a given capacity with less than the usual waste of space, and I insure greater security by concentrating on the single lock I use, the cost and quality of the several locks now required.

In the construction of my bureau the general external appearance is as of usual make, but when the drawers are all taken out, the front will be entirely open, as using no crosspieces, I -save the space those would require by placing the drawers in contact. I make in each end, for each drawer a rectangular groove (as shown at a). The drawers (b) have on each side at bottom, properly affixed by screws or otherwise, a strip of metal (c) which may be of the size and form shown in section at Fig. IV. These strips project beyond the side of the drawer so that on these it may run in the grooves (a). Thus the thickness of the metal strip (c) is the maximum space lost between the drawers.

To lock the drawers, I place in each end of the bureau, and near to the back, a vertical bolt (cZ), somewhat thicker than the depth of a groove, and extending from the upper groove to below the lowest one. This is bedded in the wood of the end, so as to allow of free vertical motion and is held at its highest position by a spring (f). The

upper end of the bolt presses against the upper side of the topmost groove, thence an armextends toward the front, in the form of an inclined plane (e), until it is below the lower side of the groove, as clearly shown. The bolt is so cut away where it crosses the lower grooves that those are not interrupted by it when at its highest point. Each strip of metal, except those on the topmost drawer, is cut through the part which projects into the groove, at a point (g, Fig. III) coinciding with the place of the bolt when the drawer is closed. This cut is for the purpose of receiving the bolt to lock the drawer.

The operation of my invention will be as follows. The bolt being held up by the spring, the lower drawers can be freely moved in their grooves; but when all are closed, if the topmost one be also pushed in,

the Vpassing of the metal strip over the inclined top of the bolt will depress that to a distance equal to the width of the groove, thus bringing a part of the bolt which is of full thickness, through the opening in the strip, and locking all 'the drawers except the topmost ones, which may then be se cured by the usual lock and key.

I do not limit myself to the precise form of construction herein described, as it is obvious that the locking may be eected as well by the lowest drawer, as by the topmost one, and the invention is equally applicable to all furniture in which two or more drawers are used. The strip of metal I use may also be, if desired, the prolongation of the wooden bottom of a drawer.

What I claim as of my own invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the l. The metallic strip or its equivalent constructed with the notch for receiving the fastening bolt as set forth.

2. The locking bolt operated by the opening or closing of any one of the drawers for the purposes herein named the whole being constructed substantially in the manner herein set forth.

GEORGE WODE. Witnesses:

S. H. MAYNARD, L. L. LANDER. 

